8/1/09

This Sunday's readings (from both the Hebrew scriptures and the gospel) call us to ponder and revere the "bread that comes down from heaven," first as manna and then as Christ, God's Word incarnate in history and present to us even now in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Perhaps in the combox you'd be willing to share some of what the Eucharist means to you.

This video offers texts from scripture, from St. Ephraim and from the Roman Missal.

For a more complete understanding of the meaning of the Eucharist, you might look at these links to relevant portions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

It means loving sacrifice and defines for each of us who we are as sons and daughters of the Father. It leads us into the mystery of the cross in service of others. It is the foreshadowing of the great Eucharistic banquet in which we all will share someday. It is both the table of fellowship and the altar of sacrifice. It is the center point of worship for our community.

We are what we eat and drink at the Table of the Lord. (Thank you St. Augustine) We come to receive and then to give - not to "take" communion. And we receive with great thanksgiving, as the word eucharistia would indicate.

Eucharist is, to paraphrase something I once read, the time when we communicate most profoundly by opening our mouth to receive and not saying anything.

I'm sorry - one more comment! I just read the words below and could not help but think of this post! Fran

Digesting God

Ronald Rolheiser

When Israel's great prophets are called, God initiates them through an interesting ritual. They are asked to physically eat the scroll of the law, to eat their scriptures. What powerful symbolism! The idea is that they should digest the word and turn it into their own flesh so that people will be able to see the word of God in a living body rather than on a dead parchment. The task of taking God to others is not that of handing somebody a Bible or some religious literature, but of transubstantiating God, the way we do with the food we eat. We have to digest something and turn it, physically, into the flesh of our own bodies so it becomes part of what we look like. If we would do this with the word of God, others would not have to read the Bible to see what God is like, they would need only to look at our faces and our lives to see God.

I like this quotation from Dorothy Day:We cannot love God unless we love eachother, and to love we must know each other. Weknow Him in the breaking of bread, and weknow each other in the breaking of bread, andwe are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquetand life is a banquet, too, even with a crust,where there is companionship.

Eucharist is precious to me, something I look forward to every week. I very rarely miss Mass - not because the Church considers this to be sinful, but because I consider the Eucharist to be essential food.

Are you thinking about becoming a Catholic?

The best place to start is always one of your local Catholic churches. Drop in some Sunday and see what's going on. Then you might speak to the pastor or someone on the parish staff about how they can help you and respond to your questions.